Man head-butted glass partition in police station

Wendy Barlow

A drunken man frightened a lone woman worker at Burnley police station front desk when he started head-butting the glass partition, a court heard.

The town's magistrates court was told how the team leader pressed the emergency button and officers came and arrested Wesley Ridge after his mental breakdown, last November 18th.

Ridge (36), of Pritchard Street, Burnley, admitted being drunk and disorderly. He was fined £80, with £85 costs and a £30 victim surcharge.

Mr Andrew Robinson, prosecuting, told the court the defendant went into the police station. The team leader asked if she could help and he began to head-butt the glass partition.

The prosecutor continued: "The lady had to press the emergency button. Officers did eventually enter and the defendant became aggressive and tensed up. He was unsteady on his feet. He was taken hold of and handcuffed."

Mr Daniel Frazer, defending, said Ridge had suffered with mental health issues since the age of 14.

The solicitor continued: "He had consumed alcohol because he didn't know what to do with himself. He went to try and reach out to somebody and became confused with the situation."

Mr Frazer described the incident as disturbing and quite scary. He said :" The defendant can only apologise for his behaviour. He doesn't know why he did it."

District Judge Alexandra Simmonds told Ridge: "You were very drunk. The lady was on her own and you started banging your head against the glass window. It was very frightening for her because there was nobody who could help her immediately. You probably didn't intend to frighten her in the way that you did."

The district judge added: "You were suffering from some sort of mental breakdown, but the fact you had a lot to drink couldn't have helped."